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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

S. S. TURNER, OF WESTBORO, MASSACHUSETTS.

LAST.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,228, dated May 11, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIDNEY S. TURNER, of l/Vestboro, in the county of Torcester and State of. Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lasts Used in the Manufacture of Pegged Boots; and I do hereby declare that the same is fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l, denotes a side elevation, Fig. 2, a bottom view, and Fig. 3, a transverse section of a last furnished with my improvement.

The nature of my invention consists in a wooden last as constructed with metallic edge guards and with grooves arranged along and against the inner sides of such edge guards and for the purpose of receiving strips of wood or other suitable material for the points of the pegs to enter while the last is in use or a shoe is being pegged on it.

Common wooden lasts, as generally manufactured, soon become worn out and unfit for use especially after being employed in the operation of pegging a boot or shoe, for

in consequence of the awl or the pegs being driven more or less into the sole of the last, and near to the edges thereof, such sole soon becomes seriously indented near to, as well as, more or less split or injured on its edges.

The object of my invention is not only to render the shoe last more durable, but to provide it with a means by which the injured parts may be easily removed and new ones substituted for them. For this purpose, the wooden last, A, is to be constructed with edge guards a, a, extending around along its outer edges and forming the side boundaries of the sole. These edge guards may be fastened to the last by screws or other suitable devices and may be formed of metal or other proper material capable of resisting the pressure or injurious effects of the awl or pegs during the operation of pegging a shoe, when on the last.- Furthermore, the sole of the last is to be furnished with grooves, b, eXtending within and alongside of the edge'guards and of sufficient size to receive and give support to separate pieces, c, c, of wood, leather, or other suitable soft substance, into which the awl and pegs may be received after passing through the sole, the said pieces, c, c, being held in place in the groove by means of metallic clenching plates, d, e, screwed to the heel and toe of the last and arranged thereon as shown in the drawing. Any other suitable means, however may be employed to retain the pieces, b, b, c, c, within the grooves.

From the above, it will be seen, that while the metallic edge guards resist the wear or destruction of the edges of the sole of a last, the remaining parts of the last liable to injury from the awl or pegs can be removed readily and others substituted for them, thereby rendering it unnecessary to discard the main portion of the last.

A last constructed with my improvement will endure many years whereas, if made entirely of wood, or of a solid block, thereof, in the usual manner, it would soon become so injured as to be unfit for use. The clenching plates at the toe and the heel are for the purpose of clenching the points of the metallic nails which are generally driven into the heel and toe of a pegged shoe.

I am aware that a last has been constructed of a metallic shell or casing inclosing wood placed endwise upon the sole and having soft pieces of metal upon its sides, the same having been the subject of the claim numbered 10,679 of United States Patents. I do not claim such, as there is a considerable difference between a last so made and my last. In my improved last I entirely dispense with the metallic shell and use the wooden body only and arrange on its edges the strip grooves and metallic guards, the body of the last continuing down to the sole of it.

I do not claim the application of a clenching plate eitherto the toe or heel of a last, but l What I do claim as an improved manufacture is- A last made of wood and provided with metallic edge guards, a, a, and with grooves, b, b, arranged along and against the inner sides of such edge guards and for the purpose of receiving strips of wood, c, c, or other suitable material, for the points of the pegs to enter, -while the last is in use, or a shoe thereon is being pegged as described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my signature.

SIDNEY S. TURNER.

Witnesses:

R. I-I. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr. 

